Profitable Businesses in Galway?

?Cee?view

A recent thread here about an Audi R8 got me thinking (that thread's been locked by the way).

Apparently a Galway guy owns that R8. He seems to run a business in security and we can probably presume that it's doing well.

Another Galway guy drives a 08 D reg. Ferrari 599 - beautiful machine but that's a bit OT here. He owns two coffee shops.

A local Galway butcher just a few months ago bought an Aston Martin DB9. I hear that butchers are doing better than they have in years as more people are eating at home.

Now Ireland being Ireland, and Galway being Galway, one has to think that there are others out there who are coining it as well, but they keep it hidden rather than (arguably) flaunt it.

So... security, coffee shops and butchers appear to be doing well.

Anyone care to add what other businesses are doing well in Galway?

Xiney

those are 08 regs.... they might not be doing so well anymore!

dafunk

Yeah, they could have bought it on HP for 150K but its only worth 30K to sell it.

I would imagine that services like second hand book shops, euro shops and repair shops are doing better than in the boom .....

Xiney

things that seem to have cropped up during the recession:

- "we buy gold" shops: linked with the strong price of gold in recession and the strong need for certain people to get some quick cash... most jewelry is of course worth a lot less as gold than as jewelry since a lot of value is added by design and workmanship etc
- corner shops as discussed here... although many of them seem to be closing just as quickly so it might be a case of people sitting on redundancy payments and thinking opening a shop would be a good idea of something to do with them
- discount retailers: while Lidl and Aldi existed before the start of the recession, I don't think anybody is going to argue that the recession has had a MASSIVE impact on getting people through their doors. Further, shops like the N17 grocery are certainly a product of the recession, and I think there are a lot more second hand furniture shops not linked to charities, although I can't be sure since I wasn't around during the boom. In fact, I pretty much arrived at the same time as the recession. Good job, Xiney.

dilallio

Don't worry Xiney - a good few of us were around for the boom but didn't see any great benefits.

s_carnage

Head shops

But seriously they must be making a fair bit if the money that was recovered under the floor boards in a Dublin one that was on fire is anything to go by. Think it was a few hundred grand in cash.

I'd say off-licences trade has increased also with more people choosing to drink at home before heading out.

majiktripp

s_carnage wrote: »

Head shops

But seriously they must be making a fair bit if the money that was recovered under the floor boards in a Dublin one that was on fire is anything to go by. Think it was a few hundred grand in cash.

Head about that alright, which means he's keeping a large quantity of cash off the books and not paying taxes on it either. Can't say I think Head shops are a good idea at all, look at Dominic Street Lower now, it's as close to a red light district as your going to get in Galway. A strip club,a sex shop and now there's two head shops, one across the road from the other.

Xiney

majiktripp wrote: »

look at Dominic Street Lower now, it's as close to a red light district as your going to get in Galway. A strip club,a sex shop and now there's two head shops, one across the road from the other.

that's a bit OTT... you don't exactly have hookers on the corner taking guys into back alleys in exchange for drugs? everything there at the moment is legal.

biko

Cinemas are usually doing better during a recession, people need escape.

As to those cars, they were probably bought/ordered before it all kicked in and now they can't sell them.

catmelodian

More luck to anyone who is doing well at the current time.

Eman Resu

Depressing and all as it sounds, I doubt Funeral Directors have noticed a drop off in business!

?Cee?view

Thanks all. Interesting.

As to the cars. I don't know the R8 guy, but the Ferrari guy bought his secondhand towards the end of '09 and the butcher bought his Aston just a few months ago.

Lidl, Aldi and those Gold buyers must really be doing well.

A lot of money was made in Galway in the mid to late 80s. A lot of the current wealthy in Galway started up then, or bought property cheap then.

?Cee?view

Eman Resu wrote: »

Depressing and all as it sounds, I doubt Funeral Directors have noticed a drop off in business!

Apparently finding it harder to get paid these days go...common story unfortunately.

Xiney

Eman Resu wrote: »

Depressing and all as it sounds, I doubt Funeral Directors have noticed a drop off in business!

people still die, true, but I'd say people are less willing to pay as much as they were

so while the same number of people might get planted in the ground, I doubt the funeral directors are still making as much of a profit off each one

Eman Resu

churchview wrote: »

Apparently finding it harder to get paid these days go...common story unfortunately.

Didn't know that, and it's not like they can send in the repo men.

catmelodian

churchview wrote: »

Thanks all. Interesting.

As to the cars. I don't know the R8 guy, but the Ferrari guy bought his secondhand towards the end of '09 and the butcher bought his Aston just a few months ago.

Lidl, Aldi and those Gold buyers must really be doing well.

A lot of money was made in Galway in the mid to late 80s. A lot of the current wealthy in Galway started up then, or bought property cheap then.

The guy who owns the Audi is not the guy alluded to in the other thread and the guy who owns the Ferrari owns more than a few coffee shops.

There was an article about Mr Supermacs doing quite well at the moment as people are still spending in his resturants because it is cheap and a small luxury for some.

Garden centres have seen a change from people buying fully formed gardens for new builds to people spending time on the garden themselves.

mikom

Deleted User wrote: »

Garden centres have seen a change from people buying fully formed gardens for new builds to people spending time on the garden themselves.

Garden centres are dying on their hole.
This is straight from a conversation with a garden centre owner.

GuessWho2009

i dont think off licences are doing well, supermarkets are doing couple of items a week at cost price or just below cost price to get people through the door and hopefully do there weekly shop. most other off licences arent doing well, few are breaking even hoping to get through this year, they all ready took a hard hit having to close at ten

franj

But what the hell, if they made it in business then I say fair play to them. I'd be at it too!!

soundbyte

franj wrote: »

Why the hell do we all act like it's a big secret who owns what?

Because it always leads to someone posting where these guys live too (as you just did).

Maybe you'd like the Mods to sticky a thread on planning robberies/kidnappings while we're at it?!

biko

Not everyone is comfortable having personal information posted on a public website by someone else.

HoPpiE

Oh of course most people wouldn't appreciate that at all. But as you mentioned, this is the internet and po0k has SUPREME POWAH!

?Cee?view

Just came back to this now, since yesterday.

Just to be clear, I'm not asking who owns the cars in the original post, or any other nice cars. Actually I know who owns two of them. There are too many bitter nutjobs around (a few posting in Galway threads:D) who don't need that kind of info!

I'm just interested in what's doing well these days in Galway.

To echo a post above, I hear that off-licences are dying a death as well. Supermarkets are selling booze below cost.

Thanks.

dloob

Cash and Carry Kitchens were doing well, if anyone remembers the Bugatti Veyron that Cunningham Higgins imported back in 2007.
0-60 in 2.4 secs it even has a second key to enable top speed mode to give the full 407 kmh.
Cost 1.4 million and rumoured to have running costs of a few 100K a year.
Puts those Ferraris and Audis in their place.
The owner took it to spain so it didn't spend long in Galway.

beagle001

the R8 guy is not in security and heavy into property but not a bad fella just has good financial backing.
Mr Ferrari every dog on shop street knows who he is and he has many cars but people know he made his money well before the bubble.
These cars are super expensive but can they afford to run them is another question

dloob

A place not doing well is the GPO http://www.thepost.ie/news/ireland/popular-galway-nightclub-in-receivership-49135.html
Bank of Scotland has taken it over, surprising I would have thought it would be doing OK.
Although I haven't been in a club in years myself, late bars are a cheaper less hassle option, maybe I'm not the only one.